Journal of Film Preservation - FIAF
Journal of Film Preservation - FIAF
Journal of Film Preservation - FIAF
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is pawned for more ammunition at the souk, a group <strong>of</strong> women from<br />
the nearby village recognise the vials <strong>of</strong> vaccine. They confiscate it<br />
and undertake a treacherous journey through sleet and snow to<br />
dispatch the medicine to Darrieu, who is then able to save his own<br />
child.<br />
The arrival <strong>of</strong> the vaccine represents a new kind <strong>of</strong> co-operation<br />
between the concerned Berber mothers and Darrieu’s efforts. The<br />
Berber women’s retrieval <strong>of</strong> the vaccine serves the greater community,<br />
but the immediacy <strong>of</strong> their trek is presented as an expression <strong>of</strong><br />
concern for the well being <strong>of</strong> Françoise and Pierre Darrieu’s infant.<br />
Better acclimated to the rigors <strong>of</strong> the environment than the French<br />
medical supply truck that is stuck in a snowdrift, the heroic Berber<br />
women contribute to the effectiveness <strong>of</strong> French medical agency. This<br />
scene demonstrates that the Berber mothers’ actions indirectly<br />
support the process <strong>of</strong> conversion from traditional beliefs and<br />
customs to French colonial medical and social renewal. The close<br />
association between vaccination and colonisation recalls some <strong>of</strong> the<br />
earliest French inoculation campaigns in Algeria in the midnineteenth<br />
century, in which the invasiveness <strong>of</strong> medical and<br />
hygienic efforts were directly in line with military pacification efforts.<br />
Once the epidemic is vanquished, Itto’s daughter is taken back to the<br />
Darrieu household for protection as Hamou prepares for his final<br />
stand against the French. Hamou encourages everyone under his<br />
command to surrender, but remains a valiant warrior until the bitter<br />
end. At this point in the film Itto returns to ask for her father’s<br />
forgiveness and stands in solidarity with him against the French<br />
forces. Tragically, Hamou and Itto are shot down by two stray bullets,<br />
fired against the orders <strong>of</strong> the French colonel, who respects Hamou’s<br />
courage. In the penultimate scene <strong>of</strong> the film, Françoise adopts Itto’s<br />
daughter and <strong>of</strong>fers her breast to her, symbolising mother France<br />
(Françoise) nurturing the growth <strong>of</strong> a newborn Morocco.<br />
Although geographic mastery and military pacification is a<br />
precondition for meaningful social and medical reform in these films,<br />
the healthy future <strong>of</strong> children serves as the final and most important<br />
cause. Children represent universal salvation, and they are shown to<br />
be nurtured best by French medical treatment and education. For<br />
example, Benoît-Levy’s Conte de la mille et une nuits does not merely<br />
demonstrate that Mohamed ben Chegir can be cured <strong>of</strong> syphilis but<br />
that he can still become the proud father <strong>of</strong> many healthy children.<br />
In Itto, Darrieu’s newborn child represents an evolving co-operation<br />
between Berber mothers and a French father and mother, who also<br />
represent French medical assistance; Françoise’s final <strong>of</strong>fering <strong>of</strong> her<br />
breast to Itto’s daughter symbolises triumphant French colonial<br />
humanitarianism. Françoise’s own conversion from a sceptical French<br />
citizen to a committed colonial humanitarian turns on the power <strong>of</strong><br />
motherhood, a vocation that blurs national boundaries.<br />
Vaccination was an all-purpose antidote protecting children and it<br />
became an important theme in the oeuvre <strong>of</strong> Benoît-Lévy and<br />
22 <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Film</strong> <strong>Preservation</strong> / 63 / 2001